The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-309935, which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a side spacer structure in a connector for retaining terminals respectively received into terminal receiving chambers of a connector housing and more particularly to a side spacer structure in a connector, which structure is designed to have temporary retaining members and securing members.
2. Description of Related Art
In a conventional side spacer structure in a connector, while a side spacer 1 having a plurality of branch plates 2 is temporarily retained inside a connector housing 4 having a plurality of terminal receiving chambers 5 as shown in FIG. 6, the branch plates 2 are respectively inserted into a through-hole 6 passing through the plurality of terminal receiving chambers 5. At this time, the branch plates 2 form the upper and lower walls of the terminal receiving chamber 5. Particularly, the top surface 3 of the branch plate 2 positioned beneath the terminal receiving chamber 5 forms the underside of the terminal receiving chamber 5 capable of contacting the base of a female terminal 7 when the female terminal 7 is received therein.
It is an effective means to form the walls of such a terminal receiving chamber with the side spacer in order to reduce the size of the connector housing.
However, there may be produced looseness in between the connector housing 4 and the side spacer 1 when the female terminal is inserted into the terminal receiving chamber 5. At this time, the top surface 3 of the branch plate 2 forming the underside of the terminal receiving chamber 5 shown in FIG. 7 may also enter the terminal receiving chamber 5 forcibly. In this case, the front-end lower portion of the female terminal 7 inserted from behind the terminal receiving chamber 5 comes to collide with the rear end of the branch plate 2 and the problem is that the smooth insertion of the female terminal is not carried out.
An object of the invention is to provide a side spacer structure in a connector such that a terminal is prevented from colliding with a side spacer when the terminal is inserted into a terminal receiving chamber to thereby achieve excellent terminal insertability.
In order to accomplish the object above, there is provided a side spacer structure in a connector comprising:
a connector housing having at least one of terminal receiving chambers in each of which a terminal is accommodated;
a side spacer mounted in said connector housing from a side thereof, said side spacer including
an outer member having a U-shape, and
a branch plate projecting from the outer member in a direction in which the side spacer is inserted to the connector housing,
the branch plate including a tentative retention lance for temporarily retaining the terminal inserted into the terminal receiving chambers from a fitting side of the connector housing, and
a securing portion for securing the terminal in a state for operation;
wherein a recess portion is formed on the branch plate in a region which faces to the terminal receiving chamber when the side spacer is temporarily retained in the connector housing.
In the side spacer structure in the connector thus arranged, the recess portion is formed in a region of the branch plate, the region facing to the lower side of the terminal receiving chamber in the position where the side spacer is temporarily retained in the connector housing, that is, with the terminal being fitted in. Therefore, even though shakiness is produced between the connector housing and the side spacer, part of the branch plate is never allowed to enter the terminal receiving chamber forcibly and when the terminal is inserted into the terminal receiving chamber, the terminal is prevented from colliding with the side spacer, whereby the insertability of the terminal can be improved.
Incidentally, the depth of the recess portion of the branch plate is preferably set equal to or greater than the width of the shakiness because of the vertical clearance between the connector housing and the side spacer.